install

Additional install commands

macOS

Homebrewverified · 100%

brew install hcl2json

local Homebrew formula metadata

MacPortsverified · 94%

sudo port install hcl2json

MacPorts ports tree · textproc/hcl2json/Portfile · source: api.github.com

Linux

Nixverified · 92%

nix profile install nixpkgs#hcl2json

nixpkgs package indexes · pkgs/by-name/hc/hcl2json/package.nix · source: api.github.com

overview

Package summary

Convert HCL2 to JSON

Project links

Commands and aliases

hcl2json

history

Project history and usage

hcl2json is a small Go command-line converter for turning HashiCorp Configuration Language version 2 input into JSON. Its niche is not general Terraform evaluation; it is a bridge for scripts and non-Go programs that need to inspect HCL-shaped configuration without embedding a full HCL-aware application.

Project history

The repository was created in July 2019 and framed itself around HCL2 conversion at a time when HCL was becoming the shared configuration substrate for Terraform and other HashiCorp-style tools. The README says the tool was created because there were few direct schemaless converters, while later HashiCorp HCL tooling such as hcldec offered a more specification-driven path.

Adoption history

Adoption stayed in the small-utility lane: Homebrew, MacPorts, Nix, prebuilt GitHub release binaries, Docker images, and tool-version-manager installs made it easy to drop into shell pipelines. The project matters most where HCL is data to inspect or transform rather than configuration to execute.

How it is used

Typical use is piping an HCL file or stdin through hcl2json and redirecting JSON output for downstream tools. The README also documents a simplify mode and an HCL pack-format mode, while warning that some HCL constructs cannot be converted with exact semantic equivalence.

Why package nerds care

Package maintainers care about hcl2json because it is a single-purpose, Go-built CLI with no runtime service, no credentials, and obvious test fixtures: feed HCL in, compare JSON out. It fills the awkward gap between plain text processing and linking a whole HCL application stack.

Timeline

2019: GitHub repository created.
2019: v0.0.1 release published.
2020: 0.3.x releases broadened the early packaged surface.
2021: v0.3.2 release published.

Related projects

HashiCorp HCL provides the underlying configuration language and Go packages.
Terraform is the most common class of HCL input mentioned by the project.
hcldec is the upstream HCL command-line alternative for spec-guided decoding.

Sources

security posture

Risk level: green

narrow executable package without higher-risk signals.

Risk classifier

green risk · low confidence · appliance

Why

narrow executable package without higher-risk signals

Signals

metadata:no-higher-risk-signals

Install behavior

No Homebrew post-install hook is recorded in formula metadata.
Homebrew bottle metadata is available for 6 platform targets.
Build metadata lists 1 build dependencies.

Recommended review

Before unattended agent use, check whether the tool reads plaintext credentials, writes remote state, publishes artifacts, or shells out to plugins.

executables

Installed executables

Command	Kind	Exposure	Note
`hcl2json`	cli	global executable

freshness

Version and freshness

These signals separate page generation age, package-manager activity, and upstream release comparison. Version lag is warned only when an evidence URL and comparable versions are present.

page generated2026-07-08

manager version0.6.9

manager updated

local dataok

upstreamcurrent

latest detectedv0.6.9

https://github.com/tmccombs/hcl2json

infoNo package-manager update timestamp was available.low confidence

install metadata

Package metadata

Package key	brew:hcl2json
Version	0.6.9
Package manager	Homebrew
Package manager page	https://formulae.brew.sh/formula/hcl2json
Homepage	https://github.com/tmccombs/hcl2json
Repository	https://github.com/tmccombs/hcl2json
Upstream docs	https://github.com/tmccombs/hcl2json#readme
License	Apache-2.0
Source archive	https://github.com/tmccombs/hcl2json/archive/refs/tags/v0.6.9.tar.gz
Build dependencies	go
Bottle	available (on arm64_linux, arm64_sequoia, arm64_sonoma, arm64_tahoe, sonoma, x86_64_linux)
Homebrew post-install	not defined
Service	none declared

registry facts

Source database details

Source Database	Homebrew formula API
Tap	homebrew/core
Full Name	hcl2json
Version Scheme	0
Revision	0
Head Version	HEAD
Bottle Stable Root URL	https://ghcr.io/v2/homebrew/core
Deprecated	no
Disabled	no
Keg Only	no
URL Keys	head stable

source database matches

Other package-manager records

Matches are pulled from external package-manager indexes and kept separate from local Automic Vault package links.

Nix95%

hcl2json

nix profile install nixpkgs#hcl2json

normalized package name match
Matched by: Hcl2json

nixpkgs package indexes · api.github.com · nixpkgs package indexes: pkgs/by-name/hc/hcl2json/package.nix from https://api.github.com/repos/NixOS/nixpkgs/git/trees/master?recursive=1

MacPorts95%

hcl2json

sudo port install hcl2json

normalized package name match
Matched by: Hcl2json

MacPorts ports tree · api.github.com · MacPorts ports tree: textproc/hcl2json/Portfile from https://api.github.com/repos/macports/macports-ports/git/trees/master?recursive=1

package graph

Links come from deterministic package relationships, av.db category and tag curation, ecosystem matches, and package hub membership.

source trail

Generated from repository data

This page is generated by av-web from the private package SQLite artifact built by scripts/generate-pkg-sqlite.py.

Combined YAML source

View the package source record on GitHub.

combined/hcl2json.yml

Used sources

Geiger risk classifier
Nucleus package database
av.db category and tag curation
cross-ecosystem install command graph
curated package history
external package-manager database matches
package relationship graph
package version freshness
package-page enrichment

Install hcl2json with Homebrew, MacPorts, Nix